place of nathan.

While I was going to college, I worked at a local lawn mower shop (Harmony Outdoor) for about three and a half years, i think. I did all kinds of things–sharpened lawn mower blades and chainsaw chains, cleaned up after the technicians, washed equipment, assembled equipment and even sold equipment–just about anything which didn’t require some true training, i did.

But one thing I learned at Harmony really didn’t have anything to do with lawn mowers. It really didn’t have anything to do with anything at the shop.

Frank Hoffman was one of two technicians when i started at Harmony. We worked together for almost three years, i think? Frank was a tall guy, originally from New Jersey. He liked to tell stories about life in Jersey. I liked to listen.
Frank was good at what he did–fix things. I had heard rumors that Frank was one of the top technicians in the nation, and I never saw any reason to doubt it. He was very good. Very good indeed.
Frank loved to teach. Frank taught me about combustion engines. He would then quiz me intermittently (going from seven-year old memories here): Q: Who developed the modern 4-stroke engine? A: Nicholas Otto. What are the three requirements for a combustion engine? A: Air, Spark, Gas.
Frank simply loved to teach. If i ever asked him a question, he took him time to describe to me the answer–not just the answer in the shortest possible time, but the reason for the answer.

You see, Frank understood that I would keep asking the same questions over and over again, unless I had the knowledge to figure it out on my own. He would describe a system, explain why a certain part existed, why we recommend a certain practice. He knew his stuff inside and out–But he didn’t simply have the book knowledge, he was able to understand why the concepts were true in the first place, and was able to then pass that understanding on to me.

The lesson is this: I wouldn’t have remembered anything if Frank just gave me book knowledge, but instead, he gave me a fundamental understanding of the foundations.
What are we passing on to the people we’re mentoring?

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